International experts have met in Chinese Taipei to boost the burgeoning marine energy industry by laying the foundations for a global network of testing and certification bodies.

The 5th International WaTERS Wave and Tidal Energy Research Sites workshop was held in Keelung, Chinese Taipei on 6-7 September. Representatives from international open-water test sites attended the event, with the aim of establishing a global network focused on collaborative opportunities for test centres, in support of the developing ocean energy industry.

Workshop goals

Sharing updates from the last 18 months on progress/challenges from facilities worldwide

Dutch participant, Peter Scheijgrond, runs the Interreg 2 Seas MET-Certified project based at the Dutch Marine Energy Centre, Netherlands. He is also an active member of the Marine Energy, Operational Management Committee (ME OMC) of IECRE, the IEC System for Certification to Standards Relating to Equipment for Use in Renewable Energy Applications.

“IECRE certifies marine energy equipment to IEC International Standards, which cover key aspects such as design, safety, survivability, performance, electrical power quality and more. It offers third party assessment services which are accepted by members worldwide.

“This is really key when you think that a conformity statement could be issued for a wave energy device on the design verification by a certification body in the UK, when the test report was issued by a Japanese RE test laboratory (RETL), which the client may later use for a project in North America”, said Scheijgrond, highlighting some of the benefits of IECRE certification during the workshop.

IECRE has recently expanded third party verification of tidal energy devices through the establishment of a new mechanism, which will allow applications from RETLs that cover the power performance assessment of electricity producing tidal energy converters within IEC Technical Specification (TS) 62600-200. The TS gives requirements for site and test conditions, measurement procedures and their exploitation to obtain the power curves.

Benefits of IECRE for RETLs

Certification of marine energy projects helps reduce project uncertainty and risk, leading to more commercial and bankable marine energy projects.

Open water test facilities for tidal and wave energy convertors and labs for controlled testing have a critical role to play in the implementation of the IECRE ME OMC system. Collectively referred to as RETLs, these facilities can perform accredited tests to assess the performance, power quality, acoustics and loads in marine energy convertors according to technical specifications published by IEC Technical Committee (TC) 114 for marine energy.

More about the workshop and international conference sessions

Participants from renewable energy testing laboratories from nine countries including in Asia, Europe, the UK and the US attended the workshop, which is supported by Ocean Energy Systems (OES).

It was held ahead of the 4th Asian Wave and Tidal Energy Conference. The conference is a platform for engineers, researchers and experts to keep abreast of latest developments in ocean energy, covering wave energy, tidal energy, ocean thermal energy, ocean current energy and offshore wind energy.

About the IEC

The IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) is the world’s leading organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. Close to 20 000 experts from industry, commerce, government, test and research labs, academia and consumer groups participate in IEC Standardization work.